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Biomedical subjects

S Perry

Publications and source records attributed to S Perry.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Selection and change of specialties by medical school graduates.

Previous studies of reasons for choosing medical specialties have been restricted to one specialty or to surveys of medical students. Since some students change their specialties after medical school, the present authors surveyed the graduates of a medical college's classes of 1971 through 1982 in regard to their selection of a number of different specialties. Overall, factors related to the content of the specialty and to contact with patients were rated as the most important in choosing a specialty; the quality of the medical college educational program was rated as of intermediate importance and life-style and personal factors as of least importance. Thirteen percent of those surveyed made major changes in specialties after graduation, with more of them leaving than entering internal medicine, pediatrics, and family practice and more of them entering than leaving the hospital service specialties (such as radiology and pathology) and psychiatry. The reasons for these changes involved financial and life-style considerations, for example, working hours, location, and financial rewards of practice.

Career Choice↗
PubMed1986

Secretion of neuron-specific enolase, prolactin, growth hormone, luteinising hormone and follicle stimulating hormone by "functionless" and endocrine-active pituitary tumours in vitro.

Secretion of the neuroendocrine marker neuron-specific enolase by 24 pituitary tumours was measured in maintenance tissue culture. Eleven endocrine-active and 13 "functionless" tumours were defined by measurement of prolactin, growth hormone, luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion rates in vitro and the corresponding plasma hormone levels. Measurement of prolactin secretion provided a clear distinction between true prolactinomas and "functionless" tumours causing hyperprolactinaemia by stalk compression (pseudoprolactinomas). A previous report of LH and/or FSH secretion by the majority of "functionless" tumours was confirmed, but plasma levels of LH and FSH were usually normal. It is argued that LH and FSH are not the major hormones secreted by "functionless" tumours. A high production rate of neuron-specific enolase appears to be characteristic of the cell type from which most "functionless" tumours derive.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1986

Neuropsychiatric manifestations of AIDS-spectrum disorders.

Psychiatric symptoms among patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) may be functional reactions to contracting a fatal and stigmatizing disease or may be secondary to malignancies and opportunistic infections in the central nervous system (CNS). More recent evidence indicates that HTLV-III, the virus that causes AIDS, directly infects the CNS and may cause psychiatric symptoms before signs of immunodeficiency, cognitive impairment, or neurological abnormalities emerge. AIDS-related organic mental syndromes may mimic functional disorders such as chronic mild depression and acute psychosis. Both of these common presentations are illustrated with detailed case reports, and diagnostic and management guidelines are provided.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

Health education about AIDS among seropositive blood donors.

The New York Blood Center is developing a health education and psychosocial support program for blood donors who are notified that they are HIV antibody positive. The goals of that program are: to provide accurate and intelligible information about the test results to notified donors; to encourage behavior that will reduce the likelihood of spreading the virus; to encourage notified donors to behave in ways that will reduce the probability that they will develop AIDS; and to provide support and facilitate functional coping responses. This article reviews the theoretical and empirical work which informs the intervention program, and it describes how the program is being implemented.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

Reuse and reprocessing of disposable medical devices. Legal liability issues.

Reuse and reprocessing of disposable medical devices raises issues of legal liability, especially among physicians, hospitals, and device manufacturers. The practice of reuse has been, at least informally, reported to be fairly widespread. However, the medical risks associated with reuse are unresolved in most cases, which may lead to circumstances conducive to litigation. In this paper, the characteristics of reuse pertaining to legal liability, the parties potentially subject to civil liability suits as a result of reuse, the legal theories underlying claims of injury, and the legal implications of possible policy actions will be examined.

Disposable Equipment↗
PubMed1985

Burma. Spotlight.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1984

Spectrum of altered reactivity of isolated cerebral arteries following subarachnoid haemorrhage--response to potassium, pH, noradrenaline, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and sodium loading.

The circular contractile responses to various stimuli have been measured in segments of cerebral arteries (both middle cerebral and basilar) taken from dogs either 3 or 7 days following the cisternal injection of autologous blood under anaesthesia. The maximum contractile response to 5-hydroxytryptamine was increased significantly 7 days following subarachnoid haemorrhage; the response to noradrenaline also increased but not significantly at 7 days. The contractile response to a raised extracellular potassium concentration (25 and 100 mM) was slightly depressed by 7 days, and the response to a fall in extracellular pH was depressed by 43% both 3 and 7 days following subarachnoid haemorrhage. The ability of these arteries to handle a sodium load was also assessed. The arteries were sodium loaded for various periods of time in mock cerebrospinal fluid with a zero potassium concentration. On transfer to 25 mM potassium solution, the duration but not the magnitude of the initial relaxation phase prior to a final contraction was greater with increasing time spent in the zero potassium solution. Both the magnitude and the duration of this relaxation phase, which reflect in part the ability of the vascular smooth muscle to extrude the sodium load, were increased in arteries following subarachnoid haemorrhage when compared with control arteries. These results demonstrate that the altered reactivity of cerebrovascular smooth muscle following subarachnoid haemorrhage persists in vitro and is more than simply an enhanced response to biogenic amines.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Arterial eicosanoid production following chronic exposure to a periarterial haematoma.

Cisternal and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid obtained some days following a subarachnoid haemorrhage contains abnormally large quantities of various prostanoids; some may be partly the result of abnormal production by the cerebral arteries. The extra-arterial and intra-arterial production of 6 oxo PGF1 alpha (prostacyclin metabolite), PGE2, PGF2 alpha and TXB2 were measured in perfused rabbit common carotid arteries taken both from normal rabbits and from rabbits in which the arteries had been ensheathed by blood clot in vivo for 7 days using two techniques. Prostaglandin production by control arteries was highest during the first hour of perfusion but declined or increased marginally (PGE2) during the succeeding three hours. Arteries exposed to a periarterial haematoma for 7 days produced prostaglandins at a high rate throughout the 4 hours of study, and there was a progressive and marked increase in PGE2 production. The disproportionate increase in the cerebral vasoconstrictor PGE2 may reflect the inflammatory response which occurred in the adventitia of the vessels. Increased prostanoid production by cerebral arteries probably does contribute to the increased levels in CSF after subarachnoid haemorrhage.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗
PubMed1984

DSM-III and family therapy.

In its current form, DSM-III is of only limited value to family therapists. The authors suggest several innovations that might render future nomenclatures more useful. Axis II ratings that are interpersonal and dimensional, rather than individual and categorical, might provide important additional data for predicting and planning a family intervention. Several available family classifications suggest ways in which to derive an axis VI rating of family functioning. The authors address a number of conceptual issues that make family classification especially interesting and difficult.

Family↗
PubMed1984

Relationship of psychological processes during delirium to outcome.

To determine which psychological processes during delirium might correlate with and predict postdelirium psychological outcome, the authors prospectively studied 34 burn patients who became delirious during hospitalization. After the delirium resolved, seven of the 25 survivors had severe psychological symptoms--either depression or posttraumatic stress disorders. During delirium, this outcome group was clinically distinctive: They showed significantly more preoccupation with their trauma and injury, had greater anxiety and fear, and differed in their use of defensive operations. These findings suggest modifying the standard approach to the delirious patient.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Diffusion of new technologies: rational and irrational.

The diffusion of medical technology, the process by which new clinical procedures and devices come into use in the health care system, is an historical topic, as old as medicine itself. Hospitals, physicians, manufacturers, third-party payers, and patients all are factors in the demand for, and adoption and diffusion of, new medical technologies. The federal government also plays a role both in furthering technology diffusion through federally financed health programs and in attempting to control diffusion by stimulating state certificate of need and other regulatory programs. The history of the CT scanner's diffusion illustrates the problems that can result from the lack of a coherent strategy to control the diffusion of major medical technologies. Some of these same problems are now appearing in the diffusion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices. In the current health care environment, prospective payment and the continuing period of remarkable technological innovation are major influences on technology diffusion and on initiatives for technology assessment. The diffusion of technology can be made more rational by instituting a formal process to identify technologies (both old and new) that require assessment, by financial support for assessment efforts, by selective reimbursement for clinical trials, and by regionalization of costly procedures.

Certificate of Need↗
PubMed1983

Calcium antagonists and calmodulin: effect of verapamil, nifedipine and diltiazem.

The effect of three calcium antagonists (verapamil, nifedipine and diltiazem) on the calcium-induced activation of phosphodiesterase (a calmodulin dependent process) was investigated. Therapeutically relevant concentrations of verapamil, nifedipine and diltiazem were used. In the presence of calmodulin, phosphodiesterase activity was stimulated by calcium in the range 4 X 10(-6)-2.5 X 10(-5) M. Diltiazem (10(-6) M), verapamil (10(-6) M) and nifedipine (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) had no influence on phosphodiesterase activity in the presence or absence of calmodulin at any concentration of calcium employed. By contrast trifluoroperazine abolished the Ca2+ activation of the phosphodiesterase enzyme. From this it is concluded that while the interaction of calcium antagonists with calmodulin may be of interest in the study of the mode of action of calmodulin, it probably does not contribute to their vasodilator activity.

Animals↗